Capella
by LemonMeringueTart
Summary: AU: Leona (Jane Rizzoli) is struggling to support her family and come to terms with her self-induced isolation on her family's farm. An unexpected trespasser named Cassidy (Maura Isles) in need of sanctuary turns her entire world upside down. This will be a slow burn (no wedding in the second chapter), "Rizzles" Romantic Pairing, Drama, Futuristic but not Sci-Fi.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey,_

_So I'm trying something new - this is an AU fic. Interested to hear any feedback you may have. I already have 50 pages or so written, but I'm going to post smaller updates over the next few weeks as I continue to write...hopefully this will avoid the *ahem* lengthy spaces in time where I leave you all hanging for the next chapter. :) _

_Enjoy. Or don't. Whatever works for you._

* * *

She was cold. Her shoulders hunched in a futile attempt to keep warm as she sighed irritably. Grumbling to herself, she burrowed her gloved hands deep into the pockets of her heavy coat. Chin pressed tight against her chest, she trudged methodically through the snow; desperately trying to ignore the frantic wind that found its way through every crack in her carefully layered clothes.

Skimming across the top of the frozen snow she trod carefully; not wanting to slip. Her hip still hurt from her fall last night; and she was barely able to control her grimace each time her left foot hit the ground. Falling directly onto her revolver had been a stupid mistake; and as her holstered gun rubbed unsympathetically against the large bruise it had left she took it as a punishment for her error. In a different situation, it could have been a deadly mistake.

Her flashlight provided a small circumference in front of her. Everything else was a blur of frozen blackness; as if she were in outer space. It was the kind of cold that made her hands freeze and prickle with fire; it seized the air from her burning lungs and gave her an instant headache. It had been this cold for weeks; and if the wind was any indication, it would continue for days to come. The air felt heavy and damp, as if snow was about to fall any second. If possible, her mood was even fouler than the weather.

As she approached the barn a shrill whinny traveled by the wind and she managed to muster a tight-lipped smile. Thundering hooves loudly traversed the icy ground and she could accurately pinpoint the mare's origination and subsequent path in from the field as the noise came closer, shattering the silence of the dark winter night.

The sliding barn door protested shrilly as she shoved it open just enough for her to slide through. Reaching up, her trembling hand found the light bulb and she twisted it firmly until it grudgingly sputtered to life. She walked down the barn aisle, turning on all of the subsequent lights in the same manner, enjoying the various greetings from the animals huddled inside. They were equally desperate to avoid the chill of the night just as she was, save for the dimwitted mare out alone. In the dim light her smile widened when the heavy, sleep-laden eyes of the older mare blinked gently. The mare nickered gently; as soft as a caress, and as her eyes adjusted to the light they were filled with adoration.

"You only love me because I give you food," she told the dark mare as a carrot appeared from the pocket of her jacket. When the mare's head appeared over the door to receive the treat, she picked a few pieces of straw from her thick forelock and straightened her mane.

"You're one of the smart ones, staying in here out of the wind. Your idiot daughter is all the way down back, taunting the coyotes." The horse munched the carrot happily, ignoring the frantic snorts of the younger mare as she finally made her way in; nostrils flaring and tail held high.

"Hi, idiot." The warmth in her voice betrayed her demeaning greeting. She entered the stall, the stunning palomino standing proudly in front of her with flashing eyes and heaving sides. The horse stepped forward and pushed its muzzle into her pocket, confident that there was another carrot.

"You think you're so smart," she said as she produced the expected treat. She pulled through the mare's forelock and rubbed behind her ears. Her thick winter coat made her almost white in color; a far cry from the gold tones she wore the rest of the year. Pressing herself in between the powerful necks of the two horses, she greedily absorbed their warmth. For several minutes she enjoyed the utter tranquility that she could only find in the barn this late at night. The horses exhaled as they gently explored the loose tendrils of hair that had escaped from her hat; causing her to laugh when their crystalline-covered whiskers tickled her face.

"Okay, let's get you set," she said finally as she extricated herself from between the two mares. Moving quickly she unlocked the feed stall and gathered a generous amount of hay and tossed it in the corner of the stall. As they moved to eat she picked the stalls clean and added extra straw.

A shrill shriek caused her to jump and she self-consciously rubbed the back of her neck once she realized what caused the sound. Taking off her heavy gloves, she pushed her hair back; her dark eyes darting around sheepishly even though she knew she was alone.

She strode purposely down the aisle of the barn to the last stall; the large light-colored forms inside appearing before her eyes easily despite the dim light.

"You're an asshole," she addressed the pompous gander that was responsible for the noise. He waggled his tail feathers at her and let out a loud hiss as she opened the door.

The friendly female geese waddled heavily over; eager for the stale bread that would undoubtedly appear from the deep pockets in her coat. Crumbling up for them she scattered it across the straw-laden bedding; watching with affection as they cocked their heads and chattered deeply to each other in excitement.

"Fuck off," she swiped one long leg out at the gander when he nipped at her pant leg. "What makes you happy about being such a miserable dick all the time?" He regarded her seriously, as if he was considering her question.

Making sure they had enough pellets and cracked corn, she closed the stall door that would keep them safe for the evening. They had already lost four geese and countless chickens this winter to the coyotes; despite the aggressive gander and patrolling donkeys. It had been such a long and brutal winter the coyotes were becoming more and more brazen and were willing to take a potentially life-ending kick from the ill-tempered donkeys.

"Too bad they didn't get you," she retorted as he nipped at her again when she turned to leave the stall.

Muttering further insults under her breath, she checked to make sure all of the other animals were fed and watered before locking up the valuable feed and hiding the key. She spent over an hour tidying up around the barn, preparing for the next day, and making sure each animal had clean bedding and enough water for the night.

Finally, her hands numb, she was finished. Making sure the eggs she had collected from the geese, ducks, and chickens were cushioned carefully in the straw-filled wire basket, she glanced around the barn once more; ensuring everything was done to her liking. Managing a tight smile, she nodded to herself; pleased.

Closing the heavy door behind her, she burrowed her head down into the recess of her coat and shoved her trembling hands back into her gloves in preparation for the trip back to the house.

"Great. More snow," she said aloud to herself. In the short time it had taken to complete her chores, a light dusting already covered the ground. She didn't bother clicking on her flashlight for the journey back to the house, better to save the batteries. Besides; the house sat like a beacon high on the hill and was lit up like a goddamned Christmas tree.

It was easy, in the darkness and swirling snow, to miss the small set of footprints and occasional drops of blood in the newly fallen snow that had followed hers to the barn; footprints that did not belong to her.

She was covered in snow by the time she stomped back up to the house. As soon as she got inside she flung her sodden hat and coat off, releasing her thick mane of unruly brown curls and scattering water droplets everywhere. The house wasn't overly warm, but it still was a wonderful contrast to the frigidness of the winter night outside.

"Leona!"

She cringed at the voice.

"What, Ma?"

"Don't get the floor soaking wet. How many times do I have to tell you?" Her mother stood; hands on her hips, a pile of unfolded laundry at her feet. A little dog ran around at her feet; complete with oversized ball in her mouth and wagging tail.

"Sorry," she muttered as she grabbed one of the towels to wipe up her mess.

"It's okay," her mother's voice softened as she resumed her folding. "Everyone alright down there? Looks like its getting nasty out."

"It is." Twin pairs of dark eyes met, each acknowledging the worry mirrored there. "Snow's coming down heavy."

The older woman sighed almost imperceptibly as she took the basket of eggs from her daughter. "Well, something's gotta give sooner or later. They can't just expect people to starve. I mean, really, how long does this have to go on? I'm scraping by here the best I can but if they come and take anything from us we won't have enough to get by." Her face began to fluster as her voice became shrill.

Leona glanced toward the hall, spying a small shadow. She jutted her angular chin out at her mother and motioned in that direction before sitting down in a vacated chair at the table. The dog eagerly put paws up on Leona's lap and she tickled behind her furry ears.

"We can always just give them that nasty gander," she smiled in attempt to lighten her words. "He bit me in the ass again tonight."

"No!" Pajama-clad feet ran into the room; and a hurtling body flew onto Leona's lap. "We can't spare Happy, he's my best friend!" The little boy's ice blue eyes were wide with worry.

"Leona, watch your language," her mother chastised halfheartedly. "And Fonso, you know we'd never bring ill will onto Happy."

"I'd be happy having Happy for dinner," Leona responded as she hugged her brother. She grinned at him to show she was only joking. "C'mon, let's get you to bed."

She picked up the boy effortlessly and held him up toward their mother. "Kiss Ma," she ordered. "Alright, bed. I'll be right in to tuck you in."

"And to make sure it's safe," Fonso added seriously as he trotted to his room.

"And to make sure it's safe." Leona agreed.

Her mother regarded his departing form; worry etched on her finely-lined face. "He's not alright."

"He'll be fine. Just let him be."

"This is all your father's fault," her mother argued. "I swear to God above if I find him, I'll kill him."

"Ma, I can't do this tonight. I'm tired."

"I know. I'm sorry." She continued folding the laundry as the younger woman kicked off her tall boots. She glanced at her daughter; sensing the underlying tension that didn't match her confident aura. "Leona, are we going to be okay?"

She regarded her mother warily; the strain palpable on her angular features. "I don't know. I hope so."

Before her mother could add anything else, she kissed her gently on the cheek before making her way upstairs.

Fonso was already in bed, his small body almost invisible under the barrage of blankets. His dark hair was mussed, and she suspected that he had already been asleep before being awoken by their mother's shrill voice. He watched her intently, holding his breath in anticipation of what would come next.

Leona ignored him for several seconds as she made a careful sweep of the room; her posture tall and unflinching, her intelligent eyes canvasing every possible inch of the room. She bit back an insult at the prone form of her older brother who lay slumbering obnoxiously in the adjacent bed.

"Look under the beds," Fonso whispered. His small hands clutched the edges of the blankets.

She hated seeing him like this.

She bit back a groan as she got down on her hands and knees to check under both beds.

"Nothing but dust bunnies under there, little man."

"Okay."

"Goodnight." She kissed him on the top of the head and helped him wriggle further under the covers. "Keep underneath, okay? It's cold out there tonight."

He nodded in agreement.

She gave a final disparaging look toward her other brother as she left the room, clicking off the light on her way.

Her room was adjacent to the one the boys shared and she was grateful the small bathroom was unoccupied. She bit back a grimace as she undressed and unclipped her revolver; her bruise an obnoxious contrast to her otherwise olive-tinted skin. Washing quickly, she eagerly changed into her warm pajamas and slid into thin slippers. Glancing at her sullen face in the mirror, she jutted her chin out at her reflection before leaving the room.

As she crawled into bed she double checked to make sure the revolver's safety was on before sliding it underneath her pillow. She closed her eyes; now grateful for the darkness and the warmth of the blankets.

The house was still and quiet, despite the howling wind. If she strained her ears she could make out the quiet sounds of her mother working downstairs; the gentle sigh of the clean laundry being put away, and the quiet taps of the eggs sliding against each other as they were put into the refrigerator. Finally, her favorite sound, the gentle and methodical click of the dog nails as they made their way carefully up the wooden stairs and down the hall. The clicks stopped abruptly, and Leona felt the full weight of the dog on her chest. Wasting no time, the dog licked every inch of Leona's face before settling down under the covers to sleep.

She smiled into the darkness and shut her eyes.

An hour later she was awoken by a strange sound and her hand found her gun underneath her pillow instinctively. She sat upright; dark eyes scanning the darkness for movement. The noise sounded again and she realized it was the distant horn of a lonely freight train echoing off of the barren walls of the under furnished room.

There hadn't been a train in these parts for years. The nearest crossing was miles away in town and the last time she had crossed the tracks they were overgrown and unmanaged. How could there be a train? If new tracks were being built, someone would have said something. She would have heard about it somehow, wouldn't she have?

When she was a child, the quiet peace of the countryside was frequently interrupted as the trains passed each other, one heading West and the other East. During the day, cars spent minutes waiting at crossings as the slow-moving behemoths lumbered pass. At times the lines at the crossing would be backed up for a country mile due to a train breaking down. Farmers driving tractors, ranchers on horseback, and mothers who were chronically late in picking their children up from the local daycare were forced to either wait impatiently or turn around and choose a different route. As night fell, Leona's dreams would always feature a long and low moaning monster. She and her friends would talk about it at school; regardless of how many times the parents or teacher would explain that it was nothing more than a simple train, the children didn't believe.

As the children grew up, the trains proved to be a challenge instead of something to fear. Leona spent hours on the tracks with her friends; playing chicken with the oncoming trains, catching a ride on a lumbering caboose, gleefully lining the tracks with pennies, and tormenting the hitchhikers who would jump off in the middle of a cornfield. Once she reached high school, the frequency of the trains began to decrease. Leona had outgrown the desire (and truthfully didn't have the time) to visit the tracks anyway; there were chores to be done, books to read, and essays to complete. Some of her classmates weren't as lucky; faced with the impending future of what it mean to be an 'adult', it was a common occurrence for a despondent teenager to sacrifice himself to the monster of his childhood dreams by walking the tracks at night. Staring down the bright light of the train as it came closer and closer; the low warning moan would cause the ground beneath his feet to tremble with the fear of what was to come. Still, he would will it to consume him, and accept his fate readily. Rumor had that one boy's shoes were found in the next town over.

As quickly as it came, the agonizing drone gently faded as the train headed further toward its destination. She furrowed her brow; trying to remember the last time a train had gone through these parts. It had to be at least ten years. Shipping had evolved, and most of the trains were phased out. The once bustling commuter train to the city was long abandoned as the divide between city and country furthered and as the jobs available for the country folk decreased. People moved to the city, seeking a stable meal and reliable energy, leaving their vacant houses and half-grown crops. The trains had nothing to give or take anymore, and simply ceased to be necessary. The Royal Family had taken full control of product distribution, and as far as she knew they were only using trucks.

Envious of the train headed for a greater adventure she lay awake, her dark eyes luminous in the gentle light that reflected off of the blinding snow and streamed in from the threadbare curtains. She listened for any other sounds; pleased that nothing else was out of the ordinary. From the pronounced ticking of the grandmother clock on the downstairs mantle to the subtle hum of the heating system as it struggled to maintain the drafty farmhouse on such a cold night, everything was as it should be. Each simple nuance held a memory from long ago fresh in her consciousness as if she were a child again.

If only she could be so lucky to start over. She imagined what it would feel like to be an infant again; helpless and vulnerable. Not altogether very different from how she already felt. If she were able to start over, would she be born to parents who had prayed for her and cooed over every wiggling finger and chubby toe? Or would she be born unwanted, left to fend for herself while wrapped in a blanket and dumped at the local Baby Safe Haven? Times like these they were becoming more populated. When you live in a dying small town with nothing to do besides give the boys blow jobs behind the 7-11, it isn't surprised that an alarming percentage of girls in her class had been pregnant with no money to support a baby.

Her toes curled tightly against the inherited blanket, the same one she loathed sleeping under when she shared her grandmother's bed in this very house; this very room, as a child, she thought back to how things were before. Before she was old enough to understand cause and effect and before she was old enough to understand love and hate. Before she could fathom how tightly the latter two could be intertwined, and just how powerful the feelings could be.

Hatred can be created like a fine gourmet meal. As long as there are ingredients available, hatred can be concocted with enough flair and finesse to hide the true complexity of the dish. Like any talented chef, Leona had managed to mixed up a wicked brew of bubbling, sputtering, hatred toward almost everything effortlessly. A pinch of doubt about her intelligence, a generous dash of disheartened ego combined with an overage of dreadfully low self-esteem, a sprinkle of two dysfunctional parents, topped off with finely grated anger about her present situation had resulted in a dangerous recipe. Topped with an unearned swagger and deadly precision with a revolver, Leona was a ticking time bomb placed in the middle of a mine field surrounded by delicate flowers.

Now, old enough to realize that things were never going to change for her, she still felt too young to accept the fact that her chance to make things good for herself was indeed over.

"Enough," she muttered to herself, her hands twisting in the blankets. She had a long day ahead of her; one just like all of the others. She needed sleep; four am would come much too soon.

She heard the low moan of the train again; once more, as it reverberated its way out of the valley. It was headed East, which made no sense. There was nothing there, not anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

_So far there's been some *interesting* feedback on this one, folks. I feel I should clarify that this is an AU fic, meaning there will not be any characters named Jane or Maura or Frankie or Angela...that's the point of AU, amirite? _

_When I read AU fics, part of the fun is for me to try and 'figure' out what established characters the author had in mind when creating their own. Perhaps that's just me. _

_When writing the character of Leona, I am drawing from the angst and frustration we've seen in our beloved Jane Rizzoli. Leona is jaded, angry, and feels powerless in changing the events of her daily life. This is a futuristic (but not sci-fi) type story - society and culture are very different from what ours is presently. _

_The character of "Maura" will arrive - soon enough. I'm sure you'll be able to recognize her. She's hard to miss, that one. :-) _

_I have quite a bit of this story already completed - it's absolutely going to be a 'slow burn' type of story, so if that's not your kind of thing, then I'd recommend you move on. _

_Those who choose to come along on this interesting ride with me, I'd love to hear your feedback. _

_Now, onward and upward. _

* * *

Pulling a sweater over her lanky frame she shuffled her feet into her threadbare slippers and began the descent downstairs. The boisterous voices of her family greeted her and she couldn't help but allow a small smile to grace her face.

"Morning, honey." Her mother looked up from a hot frying pan filled with scrambled eggs. Fonso, still in his pajamas left his spot at the table and ran up to Leona, clambering around her legs until she picked him up.

"We're having eggs for breakfast! I gathered them myself! And I did chores this morning so you didn't have to get up early!" He exclaimed proudly.

"Thank you," she responded as she squeezed him affectionately before setting him down. "And how did you go outside in all that new snow without getting your pajamas soaked?"

"Tino showed me how I could put my boots and coat on over them. So I can stay in them all day!" The boy happily rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

Leona glared at her pajama clad older brother. He shrugged his shoulders defensively at her.

"What?"

"Don't teach him to be lazy, Tino. We all need to pull our weight around here."

Tino stood up suddenly, disrupting his chair, and causing the dog waiting for scraps underneath it to gingerly slink away. Fonso's eyes widened in fear as he glanced between his two siblings.

"I do my share, Leona." He jutted his chin out at her.

"Keep telling yourself that," she responded; a smirk on her face.

"Knock it off," their mother said warily as she began to spoon the eggs onto plates. "It's time to eat. Fonso, go wash your hands. Tino, sit down honey." She turned and advanced on her only daughter, her eyes accusatory. "And you, you watch your tongue. Your brother does plenty around here. In fact, he did all the chores this morning already."

"I helped," Fonso mentioned in a small voice as he wiped his damp hands on his fuzzy pajama bottoms.

"You managed to do the chores all by yourself?" Leona couldn't help but mock him; her dark eyes filled with humorless mirth.

He shot her a murderous glare. "We can't all sleep in."

"We can't all go to bed before sundown," she retorted back as she buttered her toast angrily.

"Enough," their mother ordered; clearly exasperated. "Can't we just have a nice breakfast?"

Leona opened her mouth to say something else but stopped herself when she saw the look on her mother's face. Some battles were better left unfinished; especially ones like these with no chance of a positive outcome.

Her older brother ate heartedly and kept the conversation with her mother rolling. They chatted easily about the weather, gossip about the neighbors, and other things that Leona had no interest in.

She pushed her food around her plate and instead let her mind wander as she watched the interaction between her mother and brother.

Tino was two years her senior but had never acted as such. He was a smart mouth with a hot temper, much like their father; but that's where their differences ended. Leona's father had been cruel; immeasurably so. Tino didn't have a mean bone in his body; he was just a lazy and unmotivated individual who would rather waste his life away than contribute anything helpful to society.

"Eat your eggs," her mother said, pointing a fork at her daughter. Leona frowned in response.

"Ma, I'm an adult. I don't need you to tell me to eat."

"Well, obviously I do. You have a long day ahead of you and you need nourishment." Her mother's retort rang true; and she grudgingly took a few bites from her plate.

"I heard a train this morning; probably around three." Her voice startled even herself. She hadn't meant to speak aloud.

"No way," Tino argued, "we haven't had trains in probably ten years."

"A train?" Fonso asked curiously.

"Big stupid things that blow smoke and scream in the night. They travel on metal rails to steal little boys right out of their beds." Tino punctuated his statement by taking a loud bite of his toast.

"Do they?" Fonso asked; his large eyes filled with fear as they fixated on Leona's.

"No they don't," she assured him before turning to glare at her older brother.

"You are such a piece of shit." Her voice was a deadly husk.

"Screw you," he said as he stood up abruptly, pushing his chair back for the second time that morning.

She stood up herself; dwarfing his height by four inches. Her eyes were deadly serious as they glared at each other.

"I've had enough," their mother bit back a sob as she left the table; dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. "Take your fight outside; kill each other for all I care." She shuffled away, slamming the kitchen door behind her.

Fonso sat quietly; trying to make himself as small as possible.

"I don't need this shit," Tino muttered as he crumpled his napkin and threw it on his plate.

"I'm tired of doing everything around here while you sit on your ass," Leona responded gruffly. She glanced down at Fonso before softening her tone. "Hey, buddy, go get some really warm clothes on, okay? I need you to help me outside for a little bit."

He nodded before getting up from the table and running upstairs; his footie pajamas sliding across the floor.

"There's nothing for you to do," her brother mocked. "I told you I did the chores."

"Yeah, well I know how you do things," she responded.

"What's that mean?" He challenged her again; his fists clenched.

"It means that you did everything half-assed, as always. I hope one day you prove me wrong; but I doubt you will."

"Yeah well we can't all be as perfect as you," he retorted mockingly. "Must suck for you to have to be here shoveling shit instead of kissing ass in the city, right? Beating on people like Ma and Pa who are just trying to put in a day of hard work?"

"You don't know anything about a day of hard work," her voice was deadly serious. "And stop talking about shit you know nothing about." She swallowed loudly. "I may not be currently serving, but I'm still an officer of the court. It's my duty to report anyone not fulfilling their civic obligations; regardless of what medical exemption they've created for themselves." Her eyes pleaded with his. "Don't say one more word or you'll make me do something you'll regret."

"Whatever you say, chosen one." He pushed his chair over before leaving the kitchen.

She shook her head sadly as his departing form.

She cleared the table quickly and left the dishes to soak. Chopping the leftovers up for the pigs she put the rest of the food away quickly. Making her way up the stairs she spied Fonso sitting on his bed quietly.

"I'll be ready in just a minute," she called to him before dressing carefully in layer upon layer to protect her from the brutal weather. She would be outside for hours today and couldn't risk catching a chill.

The windows were vibrating from the force of the wind, and the fresh snow was swirling. From her window, she could see the barn easily and she furrowed her brow when she saw the group of horses huddled around the water trough instead of inhaling the hay that was left untouched in one large pile. The heavy-feathered draft began to paw at the ground next to the trough; tossing his head angrily.

Realization of what the problem was hit her and she felt a fury begin to build deep in her stomach. A growl began in her throat and she actually had to bite down on her lip to keep it from erupting.

Her boots were heavy on the stairs as she clomped down to the kitchen.

Her brother sat next to the roaring fireplace; a cord of wood next to him. To Leona's disbelief, he added another log; igniting the flames further. She glanced around, grateful to see Fonso was nowhere to be found.

"You trying to burn down the joint?" She accused.

"Ma looked cold at breakfast. What's it to you? Why should we have to freeze?"

"We only have so much firewood, Tino."

"There's a whole forest out there, dummy. We can always cut more."

Disbelief was clearly apparent on Leona's face. She resisted the urge to smack the smug expression he wore off of his face.

"Did we grow up in the same house? We can't just cut some wet piece of wood and burn it. It won't burn," she explained slowly; as if she was talking to someone who may be mentally unable to understand her. "Did Pop not teach you anything?"

"He was too busy spending all his time with you," Tino responded heatedly.

Leona rolled her eyes, her arms folded across her chest. She gave him a wolfish smile, "it must have been a pain getting water to the horses this morning, huh? It's so cold I bet the well was really struggling. Good thing I left all those full buckets, right? All you would've had to do is break the top layer of ice up and dump them in."

His eyes flashed and she studied all of the emotions that filtered through them; distrust, fear, anger, and something else that she couldn't identify.

"Yeah," he responded uncertainly.

"Liar." She spit the word out distastefully.

"Leona!" Her mother appeared out of nowhere with Fonso in tow. "Haven't we had enough fighting already today?"

She glared at her mother, "Ma, your golden boy did a bang up job on chores this morning. Meaning I have to go and give the horses water before they all colic on us."

"Wouldn't be a huge loss," he jeered. "They're good for nothing anything other than eating up all our good hay and shitting everywhere."

Before he could react she lunged at him; stopping only when she felt her mother's hands clench at her coat.

"Leona, stop it!"

"I'd think long and hard before I decided who's worthless around here if I were you," she glowered at him; her voice low and husky.

He said nothing; his fear of his younger sister palatable. Flopping down in the overstuffed armchair, he glanced at her defiantly. Before she could do something that she would regret she turned and headed out into the swirling snow, leaving her little brother behind.


	3. Chapter 3

This is not a chapter update, but an author's note.

I was shocked when I woke up this morning and received the flood of reviews and private messages in my inbox regarding this story. I've experienced a lot of feedback on this site about my work, but never to this level before, and never have people made it quite as personal as some of the private messages I've received.

I think the main problem here is my interpretation of what can be considered AU fanfiction. The majority of the reviews and messages I've received have chastised me (to put it politely) that because I don't have a character named Jane Rizzoli, Maura Isles, Angela Rizzoli, Tommy Rizzoli, or Frankie Rizzoli, that my fiction is NOT a Rizzoli & Isles AU fanfic.

To those of you who think that, I disagree. I feel I've stayed firmly within the 'criteria' set for AU fiction - I've taken characters (Leona = Jane, Ma = Angela, Tino = Tommy, Fonso = Frankie - that's for the few of you who haven't seemed to be able to figure that out) that are already well-established in the R & I realm and transported them to an Alternative Universe. My characters are all true to the originals, and if you had given this story a chance, you would have seen that. I feel it's well within my creative 'rights' to play around with names, ages, etc. as long as I keep the basic root of the character intact.

Many people have asked my reasoning of why I've decided to do this...why I've "killed the fandom / ruined the best characters on television / made a mockery of AU fiction" (to quote some of the PM's I've received about this story).

There's a few reasons, actually. In my lengthy absence of writing R & I fanfic (very traditional for those who prefer to stay tucked neatly inside her little box, it's available on this site) I've done a lot of reading of R & I fic. Save for a few stories and few authors I can always rely on, it's a shit show out there guys. There isn't an abundance of originality going on in this fandom on this site. I haven't been able to get past the first paragraph of most stories. I'm *tired* of the same old, same old. So I took it upon myself to draw strength and inspiration from two characters that I feel very passionate about and can relate strongly to and put them in a different venue; a different time.

I'm not the first person to do this, and I hope I won't be the last. One of my greatest inspiration as a fanfic author is an author by the name of Melissa Good. In my opinion, she is the premier voice of both Xena & Gabrielle, and her AU version of them, Dar & Kerry. Check her out. Open your minds, explore the potential to try something new. You just might like it. Truthfully, isn't having so many choices what makes the internet such a wonderful place? That we are able to find practically anything we'd like to read, and there is an abundance of free fiction at our disposal?

I'm not going to continue this story on this site. Truthfully, my feelings are a bit hurt by some of the very hurtful things that have been messaged to me. I don't think it's in my best interest to push something on people who clearly don't want it. It will not be fun for me, nor conductive to my writing process to receive the same message or review over and over about how this isn't R & I because there is no one named Jane or Maura. Sheesh.

I will say I'm really surprised by this fandom - I'm assuming most of the people who read R & I Rizzles fanfic are women who prefer the company of other women...ladies, don't we all feel like we've been pushed around enough and told exactly what kind of woman we are supposed to be? Haven't we all tried to fit ourselves into a mold that just doesn't seem to fit us? Haven't we all experienced the heartbreak of feeling like an outcast in society?

That is how a vast majority of you have tried to make my feel about this story. Notice I say tried. I stand behind this story, and after working on further chapters, think it will be the best thing I've ever written. I hardly received any reviews or messages about the actual content of this story - almost every one of you just attempted to berate me for not staying within the rulebook that the universe has clearly written for me. Does anyone know where I can get a copy of that rulebook? I'm running low on toilet paper.

The greatest thing we can do for ourselves is to treat others the way we would want to be treated. I appreciate the few tidbits of constructive criticism I've received, but they have been few and far between. I will leave you all to your boring and predictable fandom where the same stories continue to be rehashed and recycled, and hope that you're able to find something original to read.

For those of you in support of this story, PM me if you'd like to beta some of it for me or read some further chapters - I'm up to my gills in further chapters and really wanted a fresh pair of eyes to review it (which is why I posted it here in the first place.)

Keep reading, keep thinking, and keep reviewing. Try to find the balance of leaving a constructive review that will actually help an author become a better writer yet still want to keep writing.

Stepping down off of my soapbox now - it's a beautiful day and I have a beautiful life to live.


	4. Chapter 4

_In response to the continuous negativity I've gotten about this story, I wrote this little story. Warning - the characters of Jane & Maura are ACTUALLY called Jane & Maura here! :) _

_Those of you who have reviewed and PM'd me in support of this story (and WOW - there are a TON of you! THANKS!) I WILL be continuing to post Capella here as it is an AU Jane / Maura story. These characters are every bit Jane & Maura, there just must have been a mix-up on their birth certificates because they have different names. :-) _

_Just to be clear, this 'chapter' is a total stand-alone and really has nothing to do with the plot of Capella...it's just something that came to my mind and struck me as funny. I will be updating Capella soon. _

* * *

Jane flopped down on the couch, her iPad in hand. Glancing at her wife, who was engrossed in the latest edition of The American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology that has been waiting in the mailbox for her when they arrived home, she knew she had better keep busy until Maura had skimmed over at least the important articles. The blonde Medical Examiner had barely managed to unpin her hair and kick off her overpriced heels before diving into the journal excitedly.

Pulling up the menu for the her favorite take out restaurant, her eyes lit up when she added a large roast beef with extra sauce and cheese to the online order form. Large onion rings, extra-large spicy fries, and a chicken kabob salad for Maura completed her order and she smacked her lips excitedly when she paid for their dinner with one tap on the iPad, including a tip for the delivery driver. Now she just had forty to fifty minutes to kill until dinner arrived.

Aimlessly, she swiped through her bookmarks, looking for something to catch her interest. When nothing held her attention, she turned to her email inbox and began sorting through the mindless junk that managed to escape her spam filter.

"I swear to God, if Korsak sends me one more 'a friend wants you to see this pet on !' email I'm going to strangle him," Jane muttered to herself. "A gaggle of turtles and Jo is more than enough right now for us to take care of."

"Tortoises," Maura corrected, not looking up from her magazine. "And a group of tortoises is called a creep, not a gaggle."

Jane sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes at her wife.

Pulling up an email from her mother with the subject line "you gotta see this!" Jane shook her head. After filtering through most of her other emails, she was left with over a hundred from her mother from this week alone. Most were jokes, or photoshopped pictures posing as the real thing, but this one was unique.

It contained nothing else other than a link to a website Jane had never heard of, and if it wasn't for her mother's cryptic message of "omg you girls are famous!" that had piqued her curiosity, Jane would have deleted it immediately.

Clicking on the link, the iPad opened a new window to a website, the banner on top stating it was the 'premier place for Rizzoli & Isles fanfiction.'

"Fanfiction?" Jane spoke aloud, unfamiliar with the term. "Hey, Maur, you ever hear of this?"

Looking up from her magazine, the blonde's face took on a slight flush. "I have," she answered neutrally.

"Ma just sent me this website. Did you know we're on here?"

"I did, she sent it to me as well. I perused the website and there are quite a few stories written about us. Some of them are quite racy, in fact."

"Ew!" Jane wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Why are strangers writing about our sex life? And what the hell is fan fiction?"

Maura sighed quietly, clearly perturbed about being interrupted from her journal. However, the opportunity to educate Jane on something always took precedence.

"Fanfiction is commonly called fanfic, and it's a term used to categorize stories about non-original characters written by the general public rather than the original creator of the characters."

"Come again?"

"Take the show Lost, for example," Maura continued. Jane wrinkled her nose and the Medical Examiner let out a melodic laugh in response. "That's why I'm using it as an example. Jane, you despised how the series ended. Many other fans had the same reaction. Fanfic allows fans to re-write the plot or situation favorite characters are presented to the public. By taking it upon himself to write an alternate ending, an author can tailor the way the characters act and think."

"But why would they write about us?" She grinned at the blonde. "No offense, Maur, but we're not that interesting."

She received a playful swat on the arm from her wife. "We're an attractive couple, Jane, and we have interesting jobs."

"Hmm." Jane returned her attention to the screen and bravely tapped on one of the stories.

It was terrible. She lasted two paragraphs in before hitting the back button. Trying her luck with another one, she groaned and rolled her eyes when she saw her last name spelled wrong in the first sentence. Hitting the back button again, she decided to try one more.

Jane read two pages of the third story before sneaking a glance at her wife to make sure she wasn't being watched. This story was pretty good; it had a plot that had caught her attention right away and the author had done a pretty decent job of capturing Jane's snark and swagger at work without making her seem like a manish power-hungry freak.

She bookmarked the story to finish reading later, and poked around the website for a few minutes longer. Amazed at the quantity of stories based on their lives, Jane furrowed her brown when she saw an unusual summary.

The story was categorized as 'Rizzoli & Isles, Alternative Universe.' What in the heck was Alternative Universe?

Tapping on the story's title, Jane read for a few minutes. It was interesting; the setting was the American Frontier before the Civil War, and the main character was a tall brunette who was married to the town sheriff. From the summary, it seemed that this character would fall in love with a traveling healer's apprentice.

She lost track of the amount of the time that she read, enjoying the story immensely. Finally, she pulled herself away from the second chapter, knowing dinner would be arriving shortly. She bookmarked the story and put her iPad away.

Setting out plates and napkins, she called to her wife again.

"Maur?"

"Yes, Jane?" The blonde looked up once more, her eyes stern. Jane knew she was continuing to violate the 'no-interrupting-Maura-on-AJFMP-arrival-day' but she couldn't help herself.

"There's a story on there about an Alternative Universe or something? But the main characters don't have our names – the author used other people's names. But I think it's supposed to be about us."

"Why do you assume it's about us?"

"Well, it's on that website. And it has our real names listed as the main characters. But it takes place in another time and another place and we aren't named Jane and Maura. But it's definitely about us – I mean, my character is awesome and sarcastic. And you're all prim and proper and taken aback at first by my awesomeness."

Maura laughed as the doorbell rang.

Minutes later, they were settled on the couch with Jo nestled between them, the terrier's hopeful eyes fixated on the spicy fries. Maura pretended not to notice as Jane slipped her one.

"Sometimes, an author chooses to place familiar characters into a fantastical or different world from which they were originally situated in; referred to as an Alternative Universe story."

"But why change our names?" Jane's brow was furrowed. "How is anyone gonna know it's really about us? And what's wrong with my name?"

Smiling gently, Maura regarded the brunette fondly. "In 1873, Claude Monet and several other highly-regarded artists held an exhibition they called the Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres. This stance against the strict Salon, as well as the beginning of the Impressionist movement, gave each artist a chance to display his or her unique style. The general public and art critics considered this to be a fad that would quickly disappear, but eventually Impressionism was looked upon with respect. Impressionist galleries are the most frequented areas of most Art Museums, in fact."

Jane blinked slowly, said nothing, and popped an entire onion ring into her mouth.

"When you regard one of Monet's more popular paintings; Haystacks, for example, there is no question the main subject matter is that of a haystack. The same can be said of his multiple paintings of water lilies. Perhaps the best example is the painting that gave the Impressionism movement its name; Impression, soleil levant. Translated into Impression, Sunrise, this painting was considered nothing more than an inept sketch by most critics in the 1870's. It's a beautiful work; you may remember we saw it in person on our honeymoon, and regardless of the style it clearly depicts a harbor at sunrise."

Jane blinked again.

Maura sighed. "Jane, regardless of the classification, a painting of a sunrise is a painting of a sunrise regardless of if it is done as Cubism, Fauvism, or Impressionism. You are Jane Rizzoli, regardless of what Alternative Universe any author may put you in or whatever you may be named. Your characteristics are unique to you, as is your appearance. You, my dear, are one in 7.17 billion."

The tall brunette grinned slowly. "That's all you had to say. But thanks for the art lesson."


	5. Chapter 5

_And now, more of Capella_

_I'm introducing a new character here. Bonus points if anyone can tell me who she is :-) Think outside the R & I world...uh oh...now I'll get yelled at for not considering this a crossover! I'm so naughty!_

* * *

Leona's anger didn't dissipate by the time she arrived at the barn. The horses all greeted her anxiously; pinned ears and swishing tails confirmed their irritation at being out of water.

As the tall brunette retrieved the key and let herself into the feed room she tried to calm herself down. She regretted upsetting her mother. Most of all, Fonso didn't need any more reason to be so goddammed jumpy all the time. She shook her head angrily; upset with herself for losing her temper.

The old hammer that was supposed to hang on the second hook was missing. She furrowed her brow; Tino obviously hadn't used it this morning so where could it have gone? She knew it had been locked up last night when she did the final barn check. Everything else seemed to be in place and it didn't seem as if anyone had broken in. If so, feed and livestock would be the first thing stolen; although in this day and age even an old hammer was valuable.

Leona's nostrils prickled as an unfamiliar scent wafted gently in the air. She sniffed loudly as she tried to pinpoint its location. It smelled sweet, spicy, and almost metallic. Blood, combined with something else; something she had never smelled before. Try as she might, she couldn't place it.

"I don't have time for this," she muttered to herself as the scent left her mind and she left the room to search for the hammer. Finally she found it, lying on top of the thick ice coat on one of the buckets. One of the buckets was partially broken up; indicating that Tino had tried to do the right thing but his laziness won out.

"Loser," she mumbled as she picked up the hammer. She began methodically breaking up the ice; one strong arm spinning the bucket as the other persistently pounded, her curse words and unintelligible names for her brother punctuated between hammer strokes. Within a few seconds the ice was broken and the water drinkable.

Making quick work of the other buckets, she soon was able to provide fresh water to all of the animals. The horses drank greedily; pushing each other out of the way until they each had a turn.

She busied herself with all of the other barn chores her brother hadn't completed to her satisfaction and returned everything to its place, locking everything up behind her.

By the time she was finished; the horses were done with the majority of their hay. Glancing at the sky she muttered to herself as she remembered what day it was. She needed to hurry. Quickly unlocking the tack room door, she gathered a thick pad, saddle, and bridle. When she entered the horse paddock with a halter and lead rope, the old mare looked at her warily.

"I know, girl. But I don't feel like getting dumped by your idiot daughter today. She'll be crazy with all this new snow."

The light palomino's eyes flashed with fire as the old mare was led away and her alarm turned to shrill screams once she realized she was being left behind.

The old mare was tacked up quickly and Leona mounted effortlessly, her wild dark curls tucked securely inside her wool winter hat. Flexing her fingers underneath her thick gloves she encouraged the mare forward with gentle pressure from her long legs.

A strong sense of peace came over her once she left the barn. She let her mind wander as the mare set down the well-established path. The familiar noises of the barn were soothing to her; the geese milled around the legs of the horses and scrounged for hay scraps. The chickens were still hunkered inside of the coop; the strong winds too much for them. The small herd of horses regarded her kindly; except for the frantic palomino who ran the fence line with her tail flagged high in the air and nostrils flaring.

"Go away. You're a fool, that's why I didn't take you," she called to her good-naturedly. The filly had been easy to train; but was spirited and inexperienced in her duties still. A cold, blustery, and miserable winter morning wasn't the time to continue to school her.

Large, tranquil eyes of the dairy cows blinked slowly as she rode by. The mare's bare hooves traveled easily over the frozen ground and she enjoyed the occasional bleat of the sheep that punctuated the air and the large puffs of air exhaling from the mare's nostrils.

It was always so quiet out here; and she was grateful for it. Outside of the house and away from the noise and chaos; here in the silence was the only way her heart found solace.

The tension from the morning began to slowly dissipate as she rode quietly. Her intelligent eyes surveyed the land surrounding her; looking for anything out of the ordinary. As she reached the end of the fence line the mare banked sharply to the left. Leona went gently with the motion of the horse and patted her in appreciation.

"You know I'm out of it this morning, huh girl?" She urged the mare into a canter and the equine gathered her thick legs underneath her carefully to navigate the slippery footing below. After several minutes Leona pulled her to a stop as they reached the end of their property line; the tall gate separating the driveway from the road. She urged the mare over toward the gate; the pressure from her bruise making itself known as she hopped down from the saddle.

Her cold feet felt as if they'd shatter as she hit the ground and landed ungracefully.

"Fuck," she muttered, in pain, as she dug for the gate key in the pocket of her coat. Finding it, she slid it through the other side of the gate into an invisible hollowed out area in the crumbling stone under the third wrought iron rod on the left; brushing snow back over the area to make it look untouched.

Satisfied; she remounted the mare and continued on her way. They continued peacefully along the fence line to complete the path around the front field; the fresh white snow littered with small animal tracks. The fence line itself was undisturbed and everything seemed to be in order. As she reached the top of the hill she paused to allow the mare to have a rest. It was a steep ascent along this way; and the heaving sides and lathered up neck of the mare indicated her fatigue in traversing the difficult terrain, made more so by the new snow over the existing ice.

Leona had always loved the view from the top of this hill; here she was almost level with their old farmhouse with only the small valley and now-frozen stream separating the two. When she and Tino were kids, their father had constructed a rope bridge over the stream; anchored by a tree on either side. The two of them had spent hours going back and forth; dropping purposely into the water on a hot summer day.

A frayed length of rope was all that remained of the bridge, and even it was hidden beneath the snow. Shaking her head she purposely turned in the saddle to look the other way. Far beyond the back fields lay the dark woods. She couldn't control her involuntary shudder and the chill that wound down her spine. She had always hated the woods; hated the sensation of being enclosed without a clear path out, hated the claustrophobic feeling over being surrounded by trees and thick branches.

A memory washed over her; one she wasn't able to ever forget.

_"__Go," he ordered; his voice deep and commanding. _

_"__I don't wanna. Make Tino go; he's older." She stood tall in front of her father; her shoulders thrown back and dark eyes flashing. Tino glanced between her and her father as he shifted nervously on his feet._

_"__Pa, I won't fit. She's smaller." _

_Leona glanced at him; unfortunately he was right. Although similar in height; Leona's lanky build was that of her father's. Tino shared his mother's more sturdy shape and he wouldn't be able to navigate as easily. _

_"__Leona, I said go. Now do it." He motioned again toward the darkness; his breath visible in the frigid cold. _

_"__We don't even know if you hit it," she argued, "it probably got away." _

_"__I hit it," he responded. His eyes became angry. "Go. Now." _

_Defeated, she turned toward the thick wall of trees. She began to push through where the deer tracks led. She paused when she saw a few drops of blood._

_"__Here," he told her as he pushed his hunting knife into her hand and a length of rope. "When you find it, kill it. Tie off around the antlers and drag it back here. Tino and I will carry it home." _

_"__I'm not strong enough," she protested one more time; desperate to avoid going alone. _

_"__Yes you are," he smiled wolfishly. "You're stronger than all of us." _

A noise alerted her back to the present. The mare's breathing had slowed and she seemed eager to descent from the hill and get out of the frigid wind. As she pointed the mare toward the back corner of the property; the one that bordered the dark woods, she heard the noise again and turned her attention to look back toward the front gate.

An older pickup was barely visible in the distance; a thick billowy cloud of smoke coming from its exhaust. Leona grinned excitedly despite the bitter cold that made her face feel as if it would crack into two. She made an abrupt decision to turn away from the woods and check the rest of the fence line later. It would be incredibly impracticable for anyone to try and access their property from the woods; there were no pathways through and it was unoccupied other than harmless squatters who went there to try and live off the grid. Their tall fence and careful daily checks of the property line kept most people away.

In her haste to greet the truck she missed the alarming sight of a disruption in the fence line; less than a quarter of a mile ahead of where Leona had turned around was an area of the fence that had been peeled back, an area large enough for a small human to crawl through. A scrap of dark fabric caught on the jagged metal wire and a frozen puddle of bright red blood was apparent in the deep snow. Human-sized footprints coming from the woods to the fence line continued down the hill to the farm below.

All of it unseen.

As the galloping figure of the woman on horseback retreated; the wind picked up in intensity and changed direction. The scrap of fabric pulled off the fence and glided out of sight. Snow drifted and partially covered the footprints and the blood. By late afternoon, all trace of the imposter would be erased, save for the damage to the fence.

Leona made it back to the barn just as the truck was parking. She hopped off of the small mare and patted her lovingly before loosening her girth strap to make the mare more comfortable.

"Hey," she jutted her chin out at the woman who was getting out of the truck.

"Hey yourself." Her greeting was returned with a sneer. The driver of the truck was almost as tall as Leona but looked like her polar opposite; fair skinned with almost white blonde hair and ice blue eyes. Her face was vulnerable and unguarded and she wore thick work clothes and a genuine smile on her fair lips. "You still an asshole?"

Leona smirked; her dark eyes twinkling. "That depends on if you're still a bitch."

A guffaw escaped from the blonde's rose-tinted lips. "Of course I am. Don't you know it?" She flashed a dazzling smile before pulling the dark-haired woman into a hug.

Leona melted into the hug for a few seconds before pulling back self-consciously.

The blonde put her hands up defensively. "I know, I know, I violated the no-touching rule. I just can't help it; your 'bundled up and stinking like a wet horse' look you're sporting does it for me."

"Remind me why I never married you?" Leona teased back as they walked to the barn together.

"Oh honey," the blonde replied solemnly, "I'd wreck you."

Leona grunted; still smirking. "I'll get your shit for you." She shoved the mare's reins to the blonde. "Here, untack her. That way we'll both smell like a stinking wet horse."

"My hero," the blonde retorted as she rolled her eyes. She made quick work of pulling the saddle and wet pad off of the mare's back and had her in the cross-ties by the time Leona returned with an obnoxiously large bucket of tools in one hand and a farrier stand in the other.

"You moving in or something?" Leona's eyes were full of mirth.

"Don't you wish it?" the blonde responded. The two women continued to stare at each other for several seconds until the silence became uncomfortable. A blush appeared on the fair woman's face and she cleared her throat before turning her attention to the mare; steam coming off of her back and sides.

Wiping her hands on her thick pants; she regarded the mare curiously. "She looked sore when you were coming back. Have you been having problems with her?" She pulled glasses out of the breast pocket of her jacket and slid them on, her former jovial nature dissolving into professional mode as she adjusted the thick black frames on her delicate nose. Frowning, she ran her hands down the mare's legs. Pulling a handmade hoof pick out of her jacket pocket; the blonde made quick work of the mud and ice caked inside the mare's hooves.

"She's sore off and on. It's freezing, and she's old," Leona huffed defensively as she patted the mare.

"No shit," the blonde replied as she continued to disengage the ice balls from inside each hoof; one after the other, studying her work closely.

Feeling guilty about her snappish tone; Leona turned her eyes on the blonde. "I was going to..." she cleared her throat. "I would've picked her feet out for you and had all of them all cleaned up but I was running late checking the fence lines."

"Sleeping in?" The blonde teased.

"Tino did chores," Leona explained as she rolled her eyes.

"Lordie lordie, your mother still allows that? Jesus, if you weren't here you'd have a bunch of dead animals on your hands." She shook her head sadly as she reached for her rasp and began to work on the mare's feet in earnest.

"Don't I know it," the brunette replied. She sighed audibly, and when she met the blonde's eyes she saw they were full of sympathy. "Don't look at me like that, Bolina."

"Like what?" The blonde's tone was defensive as she resumed her work.

"Forget it." Leona cleared her throat again before continuing, "So, what's it like out there?"

Bolina released the mare's hoof and it clomped down onto the cracked concrete. Adjusting her stand she gently pulled the mare's leg forward until it rested on the padded part. She took her rasp and resumed her filing; clearly trying to sort her words before replying.

"It's a shit show, Leona."

For several seconds, only the loud sounds of the rasp punctuated the cold air. Finally, her motions stopped and she stood up straight; a grimace marring her otherwise impeccable features.

Leona didn't miss it; her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Still bothering you?"

The blonde shrugged, her light eyes never leaving Leona's. "A little," she admitted truthfully. She shook her head before continuing with the mare's feet. "Everything's so policed; and the police are dicks" her eyes flicked to the brunette's in apology. "Sorry."

Leona jerked her chin in response. "It's fine."

"But seriously; everything is under their control now. There's all this paper for everything; permits, licenses, you name it. I'm not allowed to float teeth or do shots anymore because I don't have a vet license. Forget me even getting one as I don't meet their criteria. Gone are the days of treating your own animals or children for any malady; if you have as much as a cough you have to get right in for medical treatment, which no one can afford. People are hungry; and after this friggin winter, people are cold. No one can pay for anything, and unless you have a permit to trade, you can't. People have nowhere to go and no other options, and they aren't offering much help."

The news wasn't surprising to her. Still, it was disturbing to hear.

Bolina worked in silence for several minutes before Leona broke it.

"I heard a train around three this morning."

The blonde's head whipped up so fast she almost lost her balance. She frantically grabbed onto the mare to steady herself. Leona offered to help, but Bolina put her hand up in protest.

"I'm fine," she said abruptly. "A train? Are you sure? They haven't used trains in…"

"Years. I know."

"Where's the nearest crossing?" The blonde asked; her intelligent eyes locked on Leona's.

"Town."

"That's right. I've probably driven over it a million times. I have a few clients there today. I'll ask around; if anyone's using trains they'll know about it. Damn place is so jam packed it'd probably feel like the train is coming through your bedroom."

Leona nodded in agreement. "Have you heard any news? About, you know?" She asked; her hands fidgeting with a spare piece of bailing twine.

Bolina's crystalline blue eyes met hers again briefly.

"No."

Leona nodded in response; silently. She hadn't expected to hear any word about her fiancé; but she still felt she had to ask.

"Let it go, Leona. He's an asshole. Be thankful for what you have; a lot of people have it much worse."

The brunette didn't respond. She could feel Bolina's eyes studying her face but wouldn't meet her gaze.

The blonde cleared her throat. "She's done. Looks great. Walk her up and back a few times for me."

Leona nodded and began walking the mare up and down the barn aisle. The continued chatting as she and the petite mare made the trip down and back over and over.

"You know, if you ever get tired of hanging around here all the time you could come on the road with me."

"Bolina, you know I can't."

"Yeah, I know you can't but you should. Might do you some good."

Leona flashed a wolfish smile before she replied. "Weren't you just telling me that my animals would be dead if I wasn't around?"

"Yours are better cared for than the ones owned by royal familiy." The blonde admitted. "She can go away, doesn't look stiff anymore to me. Anyway, you can't blame a girl for trying. Think of all the fun we'd have!"

"The world would never be the same," the brunette agreed as she led the old mare back to the snow-filled pasture. "Incoming!" She called in warning as the light palomino pushed through the open gate and ran into the barn.

The young mare skittered into the aisle; her barefoot hooves clopping gently against the concrete as she huffed along the stalls nosily. She seemed to be fascinated with something in the last stall; one of the cluttered ones that was used for storage. Suddenly she spooked; rearing upward before whirling around to race back down the aisle.

"Calm down," Leona ordered; and the mare stopped suddenly in front of her, her eyes reeling with high-spirits. Nostrils flared, she looked absolutely wild. Still, she allowed Leona to slip a halter on her, stroke her thick white forelock, and hook her with the cross ties without so much of a fuss.

"How's the wild woman?" Bolina asked as she started on her feet.

"Just like I prefer my blondes; beautiful, utterly insane, and completely devoted to me."

Bolina sighed. "You are such a brat. Remind me again why I like you?"

Leona couldn't think of any reasons.

Working in silence, Leona enjoyed the gentle peace that she felt encapsulated her only friend. She had known Bolina since they were children; the blonde grew up on the farm down at the end of the road and the two had been inseparable for as long as she could remember. Now, they only saw each other once every eight weeks or so; Bolina's job caused her to travel around the countryside, always a different location on a different day.

_"__Night and day," her father would say whenever they would enter the room together, his eyes locked shamelessly on the beautiful blonde. It was true; the girls couldn't look more different from each other save for their shared height and slender build. _

The memory caused Leona to shudder violently.

"Hey did you hear the royal family is missing two members? It's on alert everywhere – heard about it at the barn I was at yesterday. Supposedly one of the princes and one of his sisters - that weird princess -ran off together; I mean you know 'ran off together'," Bolina stopped her task to make air quotes before continuing. "Just another fucked up family. And they are so high and mighty about setting an example for the rest of us? Makes no sense to me."

A sudden crash caused the mare to shoot upright, almost taking Bolina into the air with her. "Hey, dumb fuck, cut it out!"

Leona grabbed onto the mare's halter to prevent her from going over backwards in the cross ties. "Now you know why I was riding her mother this morning."

"I was riding your mother this morning," Bolina retorted with a laugh.

"You're disgusting!" Leona spat.

"Not as disgusting as the royal family, you know what I mean?" She waggled her eyebrows.

"Ugh, let them all inbreed. Maybe they'll just stop being able to reproduce and cease making everyone's lives hell." Leona held firm on to the mare's halter to prevent her from having any more outbursts while she used her height as an advantage to look for the source of the crash. Probably that idiot barn cat who couldn't catch his ass if it was on fire. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Shrugging, she focused back on keeping the mare calm.

Much later; all of the hooved animals were trimmed, vaccinated, and had their teeth floated. When Leona questioned how Bolina was able to do the things no longer covered by her farrier permit; her ice blue eyes twinkled as she replied 'I said I'm not allowed to do them, not that I stopped doing them."

As Leona swept up the aisle with numb hands she thought she heard a soft scratch coming from the area where the palomino had spooked earlier. "Must be a mouse stuck somewhere." She called up to the sluggish tabby who had sat and watched the morning's events with fascination from one of the rafters. "Go do your job." The cat lazily blinked in return.

Bolina's visit had left her with a false sense of security; something Leona wasn't used to feeling. If she had checked the stall; amid the clutter she may have seen the small figured hiding there; listening intensely to every word the women had exchanged.

After she helped the blonde finish loading her truck, Leona checked that all the stall doors were closed and gates latched before slinging an arm over the blonde's shoulders.

"Come up for some food, and I'll figure out how to pay you."

Leona looked at the long ascent up to the farmhouse warily. "I'll drive, thank you very much. Wanna ride?"

Critical brown eyes studied Bolina's face and the alarming openness she found there was unsettling.

"It's cold, Leona. I've had a long week, and yes; if you must know, my leg is killing me. It's never stopped hurting. I'd just rather not walk, honestly."

The dark eyes looked away guiltily.

Bolina sighed. "It's not your fault. Now let's go, I'm starving."

Without another word they got into the truck; Leona squeezing in next to a large stack of papers and other clutter. She brushed various food wrappers and other litter onto the floor. To avoid stepping on the shaggy dog sleeping on the floor of the passenger seat she had to jam her long legs onto the dashboard.

Glancing at Bolina warily, she deadpanned. "Cleanliness is next to godliness, right?"

She grinned, "Oh I'm holy as hell." Sobering, she fixed Leona with a probing gaze. "Hey, there's something I need to tell you."

Fiddling with her keys, the blonde's next words came out in a rush.

"I'm seeing someone. It's complicated. Really complicated. But I think you'd like her. I do. Like her, I mean. I like her a lot."

Leona's stomach dropped. Her throat dry, she managed to choke out her response.

"I'm happy for you."

Nodding, the blonde offered her a small smile before turning the key in the ignition. The old truck sputtered to life after a few unsuccessful tries and rambled slowly to the house.


End file.
